Gundam Seed Siege of Dreams
by Yithril
Summary: Taking place right after the end of the war between the Naturals and Coordinator forces, Kira Yamato and Lacus Klein must find their place in a brand new world, while trying their best to shape it in the hopes of peace. My own continuation.
1. Genesis of the Peacemakers

Peace was a fleeting word in that time. Who could fathom such a lofty idea in an age of bloodshed, murder, and genocide? Human lives were extinguished in bright flames and explosions across hundreds of different battlefields. Everyone lost a brother, father, sister, mother, relative, friend, acquaintance, there was no one who had not been touched by the plagued hand of war. Was there a purpose? There seemed like one, at least in the minds of all the combatants involved. "For a pure, blue earth" or "for the evolution of humanity" were popular slogans, but sadly, only neat window-dressing; nothing more. However through the efforts of people who learned their lessons the painful, hard way, peace was somehow managed. The Naturals and Coordinators called for a cease fire between the two sides, each group realizing just how close they came to total annihilation. Lacus Klein, the self appointed spokeswoman for the future of mankind, was about to give a speech for all of humanity to listen to. Everyone watched the young, pink haired princess give her speech on whatever device was available.

"Citizens of humanity, I am Lacus Klein. I am giving this speech to tell all people that the time for senseless destruction has halted. I wish I could say the time for grieving and pain has ended, but there are many of you listening who have already lost loved ones to the war. We must respect those who have gone before us, and realize that by ending this war we have done the fallen the greatest service, by ensuring that we remain here, in peace. No more are we to look at our fellow man and despise him or her because we believe they are unnatural or inferior. No, these prejudices and hatreds must be buried in our hearts, never to rise out of the ground. Instead, we will plant the seed of hope and friendship in the ground so that our children and their children can enjoy the sweet taste of the tree of life. I hold out my hand to humanity in peace and with a sincere desire to walk into our bright future together…"

Lacus was an enigmatic woman, able to exude tranquility and calm, but at the same time be firm like a general. It was no wonder her broadcast had touched the hearts of millions watching, coordinator and natural alike. The open wound left by the war was beginning to heal, albeit slowly, in the minds of the populace. At the end of her broadcast, throngs of onlookers cheered and threw confetti and colored streamers in the air. There were two men, however, that weren't cheering about Lacus' speech. Lurking in shadows, both men seemed amused by the sight.

"She is something isn't she," said one of the men to the other.

"Well she does have a way with words, I'll give her that. It's too bad though, really…"

"What do you mean? I hate it when you play games…"

"What I mean is that it's too bad that her speeches are only words. Humans beings are human beings in the end you know."

"You got that right…"

----------------------------------------

Kira Yamato awoke from bed in his quarters at the break of 'dawn' (if there is such a thing in space), hitting his alarm to stop it from making a very annoying buzzing sound.

"Dangit, it's already 7:30…" said Kira groggily.

Kira's quarters on the ship Serendipity were not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination, but they suited his needs. The young hero had been traveling around space with Lacus, acting as a concerned bodyguard while she handled a lot of diplomatic business. It was often very difficult to keep up with her goings on, but Kira managed to keep abreast of her schedule and show up when he could. Kira often wondered if she liked her new role, or felt that she was the only one to fulfill it. Either way, the decision was hers, not Kira's, so he had resigned himself to make himself available in case anything happened.

Putting on his clothes in a flurry, Kira checked himself in the mirror to make sure everything was straight. He had always liked uniforms, they made everyone and everything look so in order. It was always easier to blend in with everyone else, no matter who you were, if you wore the right uniform. Hurrying out the door, Kira made a beeline through the maze of corridors to the hall outside the main hall where all the other personnel were already gathered. Captain Maxis Badgiruel, brother to the late Natarle Badgiruel, did not seem pleased at Kira's slight tardiness.

"Kira Yamato, you are late. The dignitaries will be here any second," said Maxis in his trademark rigid and militaristic voice. "Sorry," quickly replied the young coordinator. Maxis' rigid manner was not frustrating in the slightest, instead, it kindly reminded Kira of Natarle. Kira immediately filed in next to Maxis.

"Salute!" yelled one of the soldiers near the doors leading into the docks. The mechanical doors opened with a swish and stepping through the door was Lacus Kleine as well as several dignitaries in full formal garb. Lacus, flanked by her 'Haro!' was at the head of the group, apparently giggling at a joke one of the dignitaries had made. She looked up to greet the entourage of soldiers. Although she did not outwardly show it, she also wanted to see Kira. There the young boy was, saluting next to Maxis.

"Good morning Captain Maxis Badgiruel-sama," said Lacus sweetly.

"Good morning Miss Kleine," responded Maxis. Looking over at the object of his affection, Kira wanted to call out to her, but felt it might make their situation too plain to the crew. After all, the fact he was her bodyguard was a little secret they kept. He would be the young woman's eyes and ears, especially in such a delicate point in history.

Lacus and her entourage made their way down the hall to the conference room where they would discuss the future of Natural-Coordinator relations. Kira had already gotten approval to be in the conference room alongside Captain Badgiruel. It was one of those rare moments Kira got to be right next to Lacus. The conference room was quite plain, with a long metallic grey table with a holovideo set installed in the middle. Taking their places, Lacus decided to sit in the middle of the table along the width, that way she'd be sitting right in front of Kira. Dignitaries from Zaft sat on one side of the table, while the ones from earth sat on the opposite.

"Without further ado I'd like to begin this meeting by congratulating all of you for coming her on such short notice," said the dignitary sitting at the head of the table, Zamus Latuarda. Latuarda was an aging old man with thin streaks of grey hair in his black mane. His face was rather long and stretched out, especially with his pointed nose.

"Ever since the cease fire was informally called between our two organizations, I along with several of my colleagues felt it was necessary to carry out a series of meetings to finalize our peace." Latuarda's short introduction was met with polite applause by the other dignitaries, as well a heartfelt "Haro!" from Lacus' pet. Putting a single finger to her mouth, Lacus instructed her little pink friend to be quiet.

"Miss Kleine, do you have anything to add before we begin this meeting?"

"No, thank you Zamus Latuarda-sama, I really will only be acting as an onlooker during these meetings. Consider me not as a dignitary of the Earth or of Zaft, but a dignitary of peace," said the young woman, standing and bowing.

Kira smiled sweetly, thinking to himself that nothing could be further from the truth. While Lacus seemed sweet, gentle, and submissive, she was the type of person whose sheer force of will could move mountains as well as the hearts of people. Lacus knew the importance of the meetings, and did not need to be forceful in her approach. No, simply her presence reminded all of the dignitaries why they were there in the first place.

"Well on to business then. Before we can really call a true cease fire, we must begin discussing disarmament plans for both sides. I believe our biggest priorities are the disarmament of all nuclear weapons as well as the dismantling of the Genesis."

"We've already begun the dismantling process, Latuarda," quickly responded Reyna Yargas, a ZAFT dignitary with neck length rust red hair that covered one of her light blue eyes. There was something about her smooth manner and overall haughtiness that irked Kira.

"We can finish the dismantling in a little short of month our head engineer estimates, possibly even before then," replied Yargas, a wry smile forming on her lips. Despite Lacus' genial exterior, she took great exception to the haughty Zaft dignitary, who she mentally deemed as "slippery".

"That is of course great news. What about the disarmament of nuclear weapons?"

"That is also already underway. As soon as we figure a suitable means of disposing of the nuclear payload the undertaking will proceed much faster. As it stands now though it may take at least a year given the sheer number of nuclear weapons we have," reported Major Traehwall, a rather muscular, tall man with a heavy set chin and brown hair.

"Well, please do put your heads together and come up with a means to dismantle them. I'm sure if you pool your brain power you'll come up with something," said Yargas, with just a simple whiff of sarcasm in her voice. Traehwall did not take the veiled attack too well, and was about to speak up when Lacus placed a hand on his arm. The pink haired princess simply smiled sincerely and said "Please do your best, we're all counting on your efforts," defusing the situation as easily as it had been set up.

Kira's distrust of Yargas had grown two fold, as well as Lacus'. Nothing could be done at the moment, though, as everyone's cooperation was necessary for the peace process to move forward. The meeting dragged on as meetings do, and Kira was getting especially bored. Looking out the window, his mind wandered out into the depths of space. The wounds of war will still fresh in Kira's psyche.

"Fley…" thought Kira, a knot starting to form in his stomach. His feelings for Fley would probably never be put to rest, and the pain of not being able to save her haunted Kira in his sleep. Sadly, Kira was one of those people that had a hard time working through feelings, especially sad or painful ones.

"Still, I don't think she would think ill of me now…" thought Kira.

The meeting ended fairly uneventfully, and the dignitaries began to shuffle out of the room. Lacus began to chat with Latuarda about various topics of interest. Kira caught a few glimpses of her from the corner of his eye as he saw the young girl in her element. There was … something … entrancing about Lacus, and mysterious at the same time. That special something is what drew Kira to her, and kept him by her side as her protector, even if it was in secret. After all the dignitaries had filed out, Maxis turned to Kira and saluted.

"Please make yourself comfortable on my ship Kira Yamato. If you need anything one of my staff will be sure that it is fulfilled with the utmost haste,"

"Thank you captain!" said Kira, turning around and preparing to take a good look around the ship.

"Um, Kira…" said Maxis, his voice markedly less official.

Turning around, Kira looked at Maxis. The young captain had a look of quiet longing in his face.

"You knew my sister did you not?"

"Yes, we served on the Archangel. It wasn't too long ago…" said Kira, trailing off at the end of his sentence.

"I see…I…didn't' get to see her much when we both joined the military…"

"She was the most capable commander I have ever had the pleasure to work with."

"Is that so…I'm…I'm glad and honored to hear that…" said the Captain, eyes slightly downcast and smiling.

Kira simply smiled and disappeared, floating down the long corridor to take a look around the ship. Lacus and Kira passed each other by in the corridor, their eyes meeting for only a few seconds. But a with only a few seconds, much was shared between the secret couple.

---------------------

Somewhere in Zaft, on a remote space station that most officials had lost track of over the years, a lone figure enshrouded in darkness looked at a few papers sitting on his desk. Within moments, his door opened, and a man wearing a light grey uniform with the insignia of a stylized eagle walked through the door.

"Your Excellency, the preparations are complete. The head engineer has given project Zeus the go ahead to be put into motion," said the soldier bowing low.

Turning his chair into the light, a platinum blonde haired man wearing a white mask put his elbow on the desk and his head on his hand.

"Well then everything is going along swimmingly. We'll be sure to give everyone a good show then," said the strange man laughing to himself darkly.

_All hell is going to break loose._


	2. Unexpected visitors

Aboard the space battleship _Fortitude_ near the hourglass shaped colonies of ZAFT, Captain Midian Relcruza was going through his early morning intensive training. A man with a passion for all things about ancient warfare, Relcruza usually preferred his own special training menu as opposed to the ones outlined for ZAFT military personnel. In full kendo uniform with a specially crafted _bokuto_, Relcruza stood in position with four sparring partners surrounding him. Yelling out with a fearsome kiai, the first enemy rushed straight forward swinging his sword. Immediately blocking the blow, the captain yelled out "Men!" and hit his opponent squarely on the mask. The next two opponents soon followed suit, fiercely attacking with their wooden swords. Despite the hard blows being dealt, the Captain blocked calmly and with a wide arcing blow knocked back his two enemies, leaving the last man. Both men dashed straight at each other, however the captain managed to duck under his opponent's high blow in an instant and deliver a slash to his side. Much to Relcruza's surprise, his sweeping victory was rewarded with applause.

"Very well done Captain," remarked Lyina Maltoz while clapping, a slender African looking woman dressed in the red and black standard uniform of ZAFT. Relcruza removed his mask, and turned to his admirer, panting for air.

"Didn't see you there. Well I'm glad it was at least a good show," replied the Captain grinning. Bowing to his sparring partners, Relcruza removed his gear and put on his solid gray training suit.

"I didn't know you were such a fan of the ancient arts Captain."

"Well, I much prefer them to the soulless regiment our superiors came up with. I mean doing pushups and running is fine in its own way, but there is more spirit and meaning in the way our ancestors used to train…" wistfully replied the Captain, looking at his bokuto.

"You really are a romantic. Well I just came to report there will be a special board meeting in two hours and all the higher ups will be there. Here are the particulars," Maltoz said handing Relcruza a flat computer screen. The captain never could truly understand what the woman was up to, if anything. Her voice was too smooth, her manner too controlled, and her eyes too mischievous for Relcruza's liking, but she had proven to be a valuable first officer and confidante.

"Thanks for the info; I'll see you at the meeting."

Smiling sweetly, Maltoz floated away down the hall to take care of the rest of her duties. Relcruza retired to his quarters to get ready for the meeting. Getting into the shower and lathering up, Relcruza began to think about his life as a ZAFT officer. Being captain of a ship was spectacular and the privileges that came with it were more than he could ask for, but the scars of war still hadn't quite gone away. Memories of Panama came flooding back, even though he had tried his best to keep them at bay.

_The Earth Alliance forces had been beaten back, overcome by the sheer power of the ZAFT military. After the preliminary defensive perimeter had been breached and all hope of defending the outpost were lost, the Earth forces simply surrendered. It was the most logical thing to do. _

"_Major Relcruza, the Earth Alliance Forces have offered a surrender, I'll patch the signal through to your personal communicator."_

_Flipping the communication button on, Relcruza hit a few buttons on the computer console of his Gundam. _

"_All ZAFT forces, the Earth Alliance has issued their surrender, we will immediately begin securing the perimeter and downloading all useful information from the enemy database. I request a temporary facility be set up for the prisoners to stay …"_

"_You seriously want to house these criminals Major!"_

"_What do you mean? What are you talk---"_

"_They killed my brother in Alaska!"_

"_They took my father away…"_

"_Naturals are total vermin. Vermin should be exterminated!"_

_Relcruza couldn't believe what he was hearing his soldiers say over his communicator. _

"_Calm down! Do not forget what we're here to do. Do not forget that we…"_

"_I'm not going to let them get away with it!"_

_All around the Captain, the sound of gun fire and rockets exploded. The screams of Earth Alliance personnel trying to escape with their lives filled his ears…_

Snapping back into reality, Relcruza noticed the clock and decided he didn't have much more time before the meeting. Quickly getting out the shower and grabbing a towel to dry himself off, he looked at himself in the mirror. The giant scar he got from a battle two years ago was still very prominent on his right cheek. Drying off his short dark blue hair, Relcruza put on his solid white captain's uniform and made his way through the winding corridors of his ship to the main meeting hall.

"Looks like I'm a tad early…" thought Relcruza looking into the empty meeting hall.

"I like to see that early is on time for you Captain," replied Maltoz making her way into the room.

"I wanted to be one of the first people to greet the dignitaries as soon as they return. The talks with the Earth Alliance should be finished for the time being and I'm eager to see what headway we all have made."

"My my, aren't you the optimist?"

"Optimist? I don't think there really is any room for negativity here."

"Well I'm not talking about negativity, I'm talking about realism. Do you really think that after everything both sides of the war went through, we can just lay down our arms, hug each other, and sing kumbaya?"

"Well of course not but…" Relcruza replied, but was stopped short when the dignitaries appeared through the door. Straightening their posture and saluting, both the captain and Maltoz greeted the ZAFT dignitaries and politicians into the meeting room of the ship. There were the long standing council members that had all ruled during the previous war, and a person Relcruza both admired and respected.

"Ahh, Chairman Gestant it is an honor to have you aboard my ship."

The chairman placed a firm hand on Relcruza's shoulder, a warm and inviting smile painted on his face. There was something about the chairman's piercing gaze framed in between his medium long strands of silver hair that reminded Relcruza of old generals that he would read about in history books.

"You run a tight ship Captain and for that I am grateful," replied the chairman, making a gesture towards the table, indicating the dignitaries to take a seat. "If you wouldn't mind I would like to have you and your first officer join us at this meeting. After all you're both officers of ZAFT, and I feel that those who fight for our people on the front lines deserve a voice in matters of government." Maltoz's eyes lit up at the thought of sitting with the big wigs, and Relcruza was equally taken a back.

With everyone taking their seats, the chairman remained standing, making sure to make eye contact with everyone in the room as he took a few moments to start the meeting.

"Since we are all very busy in these hectic days of transition, I will try to make this meeting as brief as possible. I have been satisfied with my recent tours and inspections of the dismantlement of the Genesis weapon and the dismantling of many of our weapons facilities. I commend our citizenry for their eagerness to expedite the cause of peace for humanity," said the chairman in a very stately tone of voice, taking a moment to allow the dignitaries to applause. Relcruza couldn't help but get the feeling the man needed applause as much as water to survive.

"There have been concerns that in case our peace agreement is breeched we might not be prepared for retaliation. My response is that in order for there to be an accord between Earth and Space we must start the first step on the ground of trust, for without trust there is no foundation for us to move forward. Natural and Coordinator alike must learn that no one gains from strings of meaningless battle and loss of life. Now, for the main point of today's meeting, I would like to begin by…"

The chairman's words were cut short when a powerful impact hit the ship, shaking everything in the room violently. The alarms immediately sounded, blaring at full volume.

"What's going on, status report!" commanded Relcruza, running over to a communication station and pressing in a few buttons.

"Sir, we have just detected an unidentified space carrier. It has thus far evaded our scanners until it launched its attack," replied a bright yellowed hair girl with thick rimmed black glasses.

"Maltoz and I will be on the bridge at once, all hands to battle stations."

Red lights began to flash all over the ship, as a mechanical voice rang out "All hands to battle stations".

"Chairman, if you and the dignitaries would please take refuge we will find out exactly what is going on," Relcruza instructed as the ship was rocked with yet another blast.

"Of course Captain."

Relcruza and Maltoz made extreme haste towards the bridge, eager to figure out what on earth was going on. Sitting in his chair, Relcruza looked over to his communication officer.

"Leysa, what on earth is going on?"

"Well Captain, like I said, there is a large unidentified vessel some one hundred kilometers from our position that has thus far evaded all of our scanners. I can't ascertain how long they've been there, but what is for certain is that they are located amidst the asteroid belt," answered the young blonde girl from earlier.

"Damnit, I really wasn't in the mood for surprises today. Well now that our friends have decided to reveal themselves I see no reason why we shouldn't return the greeting."

"Load Gottfried missiles 10 through 16, fire!" ordered Maltoz.

A series of missiles exploded from their tubes, streaking outwards into space towards a field of asteroids. The rocks took on the brunt of the destruction, but a few missiles found their mark. A large ship, reminiscent in design of the Fortitude and other ships of their class, seemed to shimmer into visible view.

"Our scanners show the ship has positronic hull plating and is using refraction cells to mask themselves, much like the Blitz model gundam," reported Leysa.

"Whoever they are, they're well equipped that's for sure," said Maltoz, looking at Relcruza.

"See if we can hail them, I want to know what's the meaning of all this," said Relcruza, his face like stone.

"Go ahead Captain."

"I am Captain Midian Relcruza of the ZAFT ship Fortitude. I demand to know why you have fired on our vessel, and also demand you surrender yourselves immediately before we are forced to destroy your ship."

"They are firing their main weapon!" exclaimed Leysa.

"Evasive measures, 25 degrees to port side!" barked Maltoz.

"I guess that's their reply. Charge the Omega cannon, I plan on finishing this skirmish quickly," said Relcruza.

"Charging the omega cannon, phase 1 of the cannon reaching critical mass…sir they've disappeared again, I can't get a lock on them! Wait, two more unidentified objects. They are much smaller and are heading straight for us."

"Fire everything, full spread. I don't want those things to get anywhere near us!" ordered Maltoz.

The full arsenal of the Fortitude was released, missiles and laser turrets firing at different trajectories surrounding the ship. A deafening explosion rocked the vessel, a bright flash streaking across the space in front of the viewer screen.

"Sir, judging from the analysis of the debris I believe we destroyed one of the objects but I'm not sure about the other."

"How can you not be sure? And what do you mean by 'objects' ensign Leysa?" asked Maltoz.

"One was definitely destroyed in the last volley, but the other is totally not being picked up by scanners. As for what they are sir, they seem to be small shuttlecraft of some sort."

"Shuttlecraft, that doesn't make any sense…" said Relcruza looking up at Maltoz.

"Sir, intruders reported on deck 7 section 18."

"Intruders? Patch it on the screen ensign."

Relcruza looked on with shock as he saw two people dressed in gray uniforms carrying automatic rifles moving through the ship and shooting any unfortunate soldier who came in their path.

"Captain it's the same section the chairman and the other dignitaries are on!"

"How did they get on the ship ensign!" barked Maltoz.

"Onscreen m'aam."

The camera switched angles and displayed a long tube that had been dug into the ship from the shuttlecraft.

"They drilled their way in m'aam."

"That could damage the integrity of the hull and depressurize. Notify all security and tell them to pin down the intruders," ordered Relcruza.

"The intruders have made their way into the residential section, oh my god, Captain, look at this!"

Horrified, Relcruza looked up and saw the two infiltrators leading the chairman and a ZAFT dignitary into a hallway and back towards their ship. Rounds of fire were traded back and forth, but the security team was hesitant lest the chairman be hit.

"Tell them to be careful, damnit, they're using him as a shield," said Relcruza pounding his fist on the arm of his chair.

The crew looked helplessly on as the infiltrators ascended into the tube and back into their shuttle.

"Follow that ship, I don't want it to leave our sight. Leysa, can you adjust the sensors to compensate for their stealth?"

"I'll try Captain but…"

"Do it ensign!" exclaimed Maltoz.

"We can't fire at the shuttle or else the chairman will die. We've got to figure out what these people are up to. All right everyone brace yourselves, we're following them even to hell itself."


End file.
